'Ip, 'Ip, 'Ooray! July Ipsy Unbagging

It's mid-July, which means that it's time for another Ipsy unbagging! This month's bag arrived much more quickly than the last couple, so I was pleasantly surprised to find this waiting for me when I got home from work yesterday. July's theme was "Beach Beauty", and I think the selected products fit that theme perfectly.

Let's see what we got:

I love this bag! It's a fluorescent pink cylinder, made from a clear, PVC-ish material. It's water-resistent, and wonderful for keeping in your beach bag. Inside the bag, I found Big Sexy Hair Weather Proof hairspray, BH Cosmetics eye shadow mini-palette, Coola Mineral Sunscreen, Demeter perfume oil in Salt Air, and Pop Beauty Pouty Pop Crayon in Coral Crush. So, stuff to keep me frizz-free, fry-free, smelling beachy, and looking Summer-y. I'll take it!

This is my first experience with BH Cosmetics eye shadows. I have lip and concealer palettes (those same ones available from Coastal Scents and Crown Brush and...well, everybody else), and they're fantastic for the price, but I've never used the shadows before. I have to say, they're not the most amazing shadows I've ever used, but they're pretty darn good. I could toss this in a bag and be good to go for a weekend trip. The colors are a little sheer (save for the gold--wowzers!!!), but they apply smoothly and blend well.

I'm a little conflicted about the lippie. On the plus side, it's a gorgeous coral, and I love coral. It's also extremely creamy, easy to apply, feels amazing, and has decent staying power--not phenomenal, but not bad. On the other hand, that gorgeous coral is NEON against my skintone. You can't really tell from the swatch (below), but this is most definitely meant to be a statement lip. I just really don't know how I feel about it. I do know that I'll have to give Pop lip products a second look, though. I've not been impressed with their eye shadows, but this lipstick is a great product, neon or not.

From left to right, we have the Pop Beauty crayon, then the BH eyeshadows in Hollywood, San Francisco, and Malibu. Just look at that Malibu--LOOK AT IT!!!! I'm a gold eye shadow kind of girl, and that rivals a couple of Stila shadows that I absolutely adore.

Pay no attention to the sleep deprivation (my adorable puppy likes to practice his tap-dancing at 3am...on my bed...on top of me). I threw this together this morning, using only the shadows in the mini-palette. I used San Francisco in the crease, outer corner, and lower lashline, Malibu sheered across the lid, and Hollywood as an upper lashliner. I applied these over Urban Decay Primer Potion, and they've stayed put for the past five and a half hours. If there's been any fading, it's so minimal that I can't tell.

I haven't had a chance to use the hairspray, yet, but I'm sure it's going to get a workout. I'm interested to see if it's as good as my Redken 28. That sucker could hold your hair through a hurricane.

This applied smoothly, truly was unscented, and hasn't caused any oiliness or irritation. I just don't know if it's worth the trouble to add SPF 20 when I'm already using a BB Cream with SPF 20. I might just stick with my drugstore SPF 100 (Lord, that doesn't mean anything. They were out of 35 and 50). It's not oily, either, and costs a heckuvalot less.

Alrighty, now we're on to my favorite part of the bag! This perfume oil is killer. It smells exactly like the beach. I don't mean, "ooh, it smells of salt and coconut! It's beachy!" I mean, "holy cracker jacks, this smells like the air when I get out of my car at my aunt's beach house. There's some salt, some seaweed, some sunscreen...it's a cooler of fried chicken and cokes away from actually being the beach. It should come with a towel, a boombox, and sand for the floorboard of your car. I'm in love. Pure love. Tara, if you're reading this, your name is all over this bottle.

Here's a look I put together with the stuff in the bag. It's mostly drugstore, since I wanted this to be something you could grab at Walmart or Target while you did the rest of your vacation shopping. There are a couple of exceptions, but just a couple. And yes, my hair is wet. I could tell you it's because this is a beach look, and I wanted you to see how it would look for reals, but honestly, I'm just lazy and didn't feel like blowing my hair dry.

Coola Mineral Sunscreen
Garnier BB Cream Light/Medium
Maybelline Age Rewind Eraser in Brightener and Neutralizer
ELF Studio Body Shimmer in Mystic Moonlight
BH Cosmetics Mini-Palette
ELF Studio Contouring Blush and Bronzing Powder in Turks & Caicos
Rimmel Stay Matte Powder
ELF Essential Wet Gloss Lash and Brow Clear Mascara
Pop Beauty Pouty Pop Crayon in Coral Crush
Juice Beauty Lip Gloss in Pink
Buxom Buxom Lash Waterproof Mascara in Black

Southern Fried Ringlets and Sticky Buns: Garnier Anti-Humidity Hairspray

Photo Credit: CVS

So...I'd planned to review Sephora's new-ish Tokidoki lipgloss today. It's funny how we make plans and God laughs. Well, more like: we make plans and the UPS guy decides he doesn't feel like delivering your package, even though nowhere on the shipping agreement does it state I have to be home to sign for the package, and he's left them countless times before, including during thunderstorms. Then he laughs.

So...instead, here are my thoughts on Garnier Fructis Style Volumizing Anti-Humidity Hairspray ($4.49, CVS).

I'm a fan of Pantene Classic Hairspray. I've been using it for ages; ever since my friend, Danna, introduced it to me backstage at our University Opera Theatre. For some reason, twittery little sopranos (such as myself) tend to be cast in roles that require ringlets. Maybe it's because they shake when we hit high notes? I don't know...anyway, it held the curls without making my hair crunchy, and I became a devotee.

And now I can't find it. Blast!

So...I grabbed a bottle of the Garnier, after noting that it touted flexibility and--the Holy Grail of Southern Belle hairdressing--protection from humidity. Here's what CVS has to say about the spray:

All-day humidity resistance. With bamboo extract. Provides bounce-back hold. Extra Strong: 3. Garnier Fructis Style Hairspray Collection: Introducing our first ever hairspray with bamboo extract and anti-humidity protection for long-lasting hold and natural, healthy-looking movement. Why bamboo? Selected with its strength, suppleness and resilience, bamboo bends but never breaks. What is volumizing hairspray? This volumizing hairspray lifts from root to tip to boost flat, tired hair with body, fullness and an extra strong hold - even with moisture in the air - all day, every day. Meets all state and federal clean air standards. Made in Canada.

Alrighty, folks. Yesterday, I did a bad, bad thing to my hair. I put it in pincurls to try to make waves. I did this poorly. Hilarity ensued. Honestly, I looked like a cross between Carrot Top and...actually, there is no cross. I just looked like Carrot Top. *shudder*

Carrot Top
Photo Credit: BestofVegas.com

To fix this...let's call it an issue, I embraced the messiness, teased the crown a bit, and pulled the rest into a purposely disheveled bun. I even threw in a hair flower, so as to scream, "I MEANT TO DO THAT!!!" at passersby. I sprayed the abomination with the Garnier to fix some of the flyaways, and to try to keep the height.

It worked fairly well. The teasing deflated some over the course of the day, but not completely. The flyaways were also kept to a minimum. My only real complaint was that the spray felt sticky, but with this particular style, that's kind of a non-issue. No one's going to run their fingers through your bun.

Today, however, posed more of a challenge. I had to sing at a funeral this morning (totally business. I didn't know the deceased, so no need to panic over who died), so I needed to look a little more professional than usual. I decided to do a nice blowout, then set my hair with jumbo velcro rollers, heat with the hair dryer, then pull out the rollers for a sleek, polished, slightly curled under, voluminous straight style. In other words, newscaster/pageant queen hair. And it was GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!! Oh, my God, I was so excited. Then I sprayed it.

It was like spraying gel into my hair. My beautiful style suddenly felt gummy, and the sleek, polished look gave way for a beachy texture! I was not happy. However, as soon as I ran a brush through the gunk, things started to look a little more like they were supposed to. Not exactly like it had been, but fairly close. My hair looked good.

I had to park three blocks from the church and walk in Southern humidity and wind. A quick brushing once I got inside the building, and I was good to go. Then, after Mass, I had to walk back to the car, drive to work, arrive almost late, run into the building, then run to my booth. Again, a quick brushing, and I looked just fine. After a couple of hours, I went to the restroom and noticed that my hair, while not as perfect as when the rollers came out, still had volume, movement, and very few frizzies. I won't say that the humidity didn't get to it at all, but my hair looked nowhere near as bad as it should for the amount of wind and weather it had been through.

Final Verdict: 7 out of 10. It's a good finishing spray for updos and less-than-perfect loose styles. I wouldn't suggest it for your wedding, though, or any style that you want to keep "just so".

Adventure(ish)land

Photo by Got2b

I like to think I'm somewhat adventurous. Granted, the two times I went hiking were both completely on accident, I'm not even slightly interested in camping, and I have a tendency to inhale bug spray as I'm applying it (not recommended). But I like trying new things. In the comfort of my own home. In air-conditioning. And by new things, I mean Ben & Jerry's flavors and lipgloss. Yeah.

Okay, for about thirty seconds, I had myself convinced I was adventurous. I had probably tasted something fancy and highly caffeinated in the moments leading up to this. Anyway, in that thirty seconds, I decided to sign up for this thing called BzzAgent. It's a word of mouth advertising company. Basically, they send me a product, I try it out, decide how I feel about it (good or bad), and then tell other people what I think and report back to the agency. I thought, "I like new things! I'm opinionated! This'll be fun!" and signed right up.

And it is fun. It's about as much adventure as my little heart can take. I never know when a new campaign will pop up, or what it will be about. Then, I get to wait for the post office to deliver my special package, and then I get to play with whatever is inside. It's like Christmas! Plus--they send coupons for me to share with my friends and family. It's like being on a roller-coaster! Okay, not-so-much, but it works for me, and I can't recommend it enough.

So, right now, I'm working on the Got2b Smooth Operator campaign, and it's pretty neat. I've tried a really good chunk of the line (a few new things came out after I signed up, and I haven't seen them in town, yet), and while I'm not crazy about most of the products, I've become a big fan of the hairspray.

You see, most of the products are okay in small doses--heck, the smoothing lotion is fantastic at smoothing down frizzies--but over time, they really dry out your hair. I would love to recommend it, but only for very limited use. The mousse actually made my hair frizzier, if that's possible. I have thick, wavy hair and live in 1000% humidity, I really didn't think ANYTHING could make my hair frizz more.

However, the hairspray is a little bit of liquid gold. Seriously, it's made its way into my full-time arsenal. It's a lightweight finishing spray that helps smooth existing flyaways and prevent new ones. I don't know how it works, all I know is that it does work. Remember, though, this is not going to keep your bridesmaid's up-do in place all by itself. It's not that heavy-duty. This is more for keeping that cute, purposely messy pony-tail from getting out of hand, or making sure your loose beach waves don't 'fro out during the walk from your car to the mall. I pretty much just fix my hair how I want, with whatever products I would normally use, then lightly mist this over the finished style. It's a little extra hold, a little extra shine, and lot of help keeping things neat and tidy.

So, here's the breakdown:

Pros: Cute as a button packaging. Does what it says, for the most part. Pleasant, but not overpowering fragrance. Affordable price point ($6.29 at CVS). Hairspray is magic.

Cons: Mousse and lotion dry your hair over time. Mousse makes your hair frizzier (well, mine, anyway).

All in all, I'd give the group a 4.5 out of 10, with the mousse getting a 1, the lotion getting a 5, and the hairspray getting a 7 (magic that it is, a little more hold would be nice).

Alrighty, that's enough adventure for one day. Now, where's my blue blanket...